Town will be ruined (From This Is Local London)

Town will be ruined

10:47am Wednesday 26th October 2005

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PLANS for the regeneration of Dartford will "overshadow the town and rob it of its identity", according to a councillor.

Tom Maddison, county councillor for Dartford West, also feels the 10-year plans, which could see a 161,000sq ft Tesco hypermarket in the town centre, will "cut the throats" of smaller shops.

The £20m plans, funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, will see a new town centre square, improvements to the Orchard Theatre, more pedestrian walkways along the River Darent and the restoration of Central Park.

However, there has been public and political opposition to plans to put a two-lane road through the park and build homes and a Tesco superstore in nearby Lowfield Street.

This has led to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott calling a public inquiry into the plans, the results of which are expected next month.

Dartford MP Howard Stoate has branded the plans "an absolute disaster".

And a petition with 13,000 signatures from worried residents was handed to the council before the plans were approved in August last year.

Former Dartford mayor Cllr Maddison said: "I admit parts of the town centre could do with a facelift but the general public gets dictated to by the developers.

"I don't think Dartford is half as bad as some people think. We have some beautiful buildings such as the library and areas around Lowfield Street.

"These proposals contradict the very definition of a market town.

"If this was somewhere like Tunbridge Wells a development like this wouldn't stand a chance but I suppose the perception is it's only rubbishy old Dartford' and they'll just pull it down."

He added: "The area would look so much nicer if we could integrate the old with the new.

"I'm not sure the character of Dartford as an old market town would survive if this development goes ahead."

Deputy council leader Councillor Jeremy Kite said: "This is only the first step of the consultation.

"People are being asked their opinions and they are quite capable of letting us know what they want.

"Tom shouldn't mistake old for good. It will be sad to some of the buildings go but it's a question of sensitive balance."

He added: "It is irresponsible to predict where this is going.

"I would like to see him participate in giving us his views as we do things and join the debate in a sensible way.

"He doesn't and we don't know what it is going to be like.

"Nobody is interested in us making the town centre worse."

A public consultation on the plans, held by Donaldsons property consultants, ended last week and the results of 31,500 surveys are expected in six weeks' time.

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